Aldegar

[ChitinKal]

Ziara za Kigeni: President Afolayan Travels to Kuga, Ramsāhreza

[jamescfm]

Historical epic Bashekewh breaks Aldegarian box office record
     20 August 4917

     Bashekewh, a three-hour historical epic about the founder of the Kemokian Empire Ashkan the Magnificent, has become the highest-grossing Aldegarian film of all time over the weekend. Produced and directed by the veteran filmmaker Vida Boromand, the film follows the legendary Aldegarian emperor throughout the entire period of his seventy year life with particular focus on his later years.

     Ashkan founded the Kemokian Empire, the first of several Aldegarian empires that ruled portions of Seleya up until modern times. As well as being the first ruler to organise the Aldegarian people into a single polity, he greatly influenced the spread of Yazdism due to his patronage of the prophet Shapur and the subsequent adoption of the faith as the state religion of the empire. As a result, he is an illustrious figure commonly evoked throughout the country's history especially by those seeking to promote Aldegarian national identity.

     Despite the wide popularity throughout Aldegar, journalists and critics have been surprised by the film's success abroad. In comparison to other countries like Yingdala, Aldegarian cinema has not typically not had widespread, international appeal but Bashekewh seems to be an exception. In Vascanian for example, it topped the box office upon release despite stiff competition from domestic films. Boromand has said the film's international success is partly the result of the influence foreign cinema had on her filmmaking.

     Not all the responses were positive though. In a scathing review, the notoriously hard-to-please Hutorian critic Josiah Beckman described the film as "overblown nationalist propaganda designed to please the simple masses" elsewhere describing it as "dreadfully dull". In the political domain, President Payam Zarqan showed his support for the film on social media after watching it with his wife and daughter, describing it as "truly living up to its title, magnificent".


Khelban (Pilot) is a broadsheet newspaper covering a variety of topics including politics, economics, culture and sports throughout Aldegar and Seleya

[jamescfm]

     Period of national mourning declared following passing of Shahram Jafarnejad
          3 October 4917

Aldegarian President Payam Zarqan has declared a two week period of national mourning after it was announced that former President Shahram Jafarnejad had died overnight at his home in the capital Ramsāhreza. At present the cause of death is not known but Jafarnejad was eighty-five years old and had experienced health complications towards the end of his presidency. Zarqan declared the former President a "revolutionary figure and national hero for the Aldegarian people".

Since he retired from frontline politics, the former President had retained a seat on the Shewra and maintained an interest in the affairs of state. Despite this, he had largely avoided intervening in matters of policy and allowed his designated successor to proceed with his own priorities and agenda. Jafarnejad had instead focused on spending time with family and working on a series of books that began with Political Life. Although nominally an autobiography, the book served to allow the former President to reflect on his period in government and provide an outline of his political philosophy.

Jafarnejad's death brings a symbolic end to the political era that began when he became President in 4871. Since then he had reshaped the political system in Aldegar by providing an alternative to the competing systems of multi-party democracy, absolute monarchy and military dictatorship that have plagued the country with political instability for the past three thousand years. At present it seems that the non-partisan republic will outlive its iconic leader. The question of how long for, remains.

[Luis1p]

LE NATIONAL: Lourenne begins Grand International Diplomatic Tour throughout Terra

[Rogue]

The Gazette
The Gazette is a national newspaper in Aldegar, bringing you daily news from politics to entertainment
MILITARY TAKES CONTROL, DECLARES MARTIAL LAW
September 15th, 4964

Ramsāhreza: In the early morning of september the 14th the sound of tanks rolling through the main streets of Ramsāhreza could be heard. Soldiers rushed to secure strategic locations on street corners or important buildings and the local police guided them to government buildings. In other parts of the country, important harbours were ceased by military forces and media outlets were shutdown. After several hours, only one face could be seen on television screens across the nation, General Sahand Farahani, known until now as one of the most silent on the General staff, stood in front of the seal of the Aldegarian military. He looked directly into the camera, and started speaking.

My fellow Aldegarians. Citizens. These last 48 hours have been hours of uncertainty for the majority of you. But i stand here not as a beacon of uncertainty, but as a beacon of stability and trust. These past few years have been difficult, with no government in place to deal with the urgent problems our nation faces. For over 10 years, our great nation was without central leadership, instead relying on local representatives and governors to keep the "ship" afloat. The military, seeing the anger within the population, has taken it upon themselves to take control and reestablish a form of normalcy and control in our great nation. As from this day onward i, Sahand Farahani, will assume the role of President of Aldegar of the Provisional Aldegari Republic. In the coming months, i will establish a new government and adopt a new constitution. I will work with you, the people, and the military alike to ensure a smooth transition from a military to a civilian regime. Only together can we regain past glory and strength. Only together shall we, Aldegar, once again show ourselves as a force of strength regionally and globally. Thank you

International media outlets have questioned Sahand Farahani's intentions, thinking he will instead maintain control over the country until forced out. One thing is clear, for now the Aldegarian military is in full control and the constitution suspended. What will the future bring to Aldegar?


Soldiers of the Aldegarian Army overlooking the capital of Ramsāhreza from a nearby hill moments after the alledged coup

[Polites]

Government reforms in Aldegar
     December 5291

     The government of the Republic of Aldegar is now in the hands of a reform-minded political force that aims to reshape the nation's political structure without deviating from its general principles. The Yazdean People's Party has won the general election in August by a landslide, and is now in the process of restructuring the Aldegarian constitution to fit its aims and empowered by the popular mandate it has received. The Administrative Reform Act is a comprehensive constitutional reform package that, among its many previsions, will restore a collective head of state, this time to be known as the Royal Divan. Adegar was famously ruled by a collective head of state known as the Shewra in the past, a unique constitutional arrangement that had drawn some inspiration from other experimental constitutional features in nations like Selucia or Endralon. The Shewra also included demarchically-selected members of the general citizenry, a feature which the new Royal Divan does not. Apart from this lacking feature, the Divan is essentially identical in composition and structure to the old Shewra.

     Apart from this constitutional innovation, the Yazdean People's Party has also sponsored a number of reforms motivated by its unusual, for Aldegar, ideological commitments. The Yazdean People's Party is an explicitly Yazdean party, but unlike similar confessional parties in the past it is neither monarchist nor conservative. The Yazdean People's Party represents the culmination of centuries of rapprochement between clergy and republic. The historically reactionary mobeds were instrumental many times in the past in the collapse of democratic republics and the rise of authoritarian monarchies, and although they were often faced with the reality of republicanism, their attitude was one of grudging resignation rather than enthusiastic acceptance. This has changed under the current republic, established in 4872 and which for much of its history incorporated the leadership of Yazdism as well as the other major religions in Aldegar into its governing system. This appeasement has over time shifted the attitudes of the clergy and the devout from one of burning hatred towards democracy and republicanism to one of support for the democratic institutions that have defended their rights and interests.

     Besides this long-running thread there is a religious dimension to the new governing party's embrace of democracy and republicanism. Much of the leadership of the party, including the new President of Aldegar Adarhormazd Ghobadian, are known members of the Gašasbīān (Illuminationist) school of Yazdism, a mystical sect dating from the 19th century characterized by its ecumenism and orthopraxy. The Gašasbīān were born in reaction to the religious persecutions under the Shahnazids, as a result of which many non-Yazdeans were forced to convert, "diluting" the faith and relaxing ritual purity requirements in the process. The Gašasbīān believe that all religions are of divine origin and are equally valuable as paths leading to God, and prefer mystical and allegorical interpretations of Yazdean scriptures, believing, for instance, in reincarnation, vegetarianism, and the fact that the founder of Yazdism Shapur was an ahura, a Yazdean deity. This religiously permissive attitude is coupled with an atypically strict adherence to ritual purity laws far beyond what all but the most strictly devout Yazdeans practice. Because of these beliefs the Gašasbīān consider it a grave sin and blasphemy for anyone to convert to another religion, even if that religion is Yazdism, as they believe that God has determined into which faith each soul would be born and to change that is to defy the will of God. As Yazdism is an orthopraxic religion, these doctrinal deviations to not lead to the sect being labelled heterodox by other Yazdeans, and in fact their uncompromising obedience to ritual purity laws has earned them respect from more conservative mobeds.

     If the Yazdean People's Party is successful in its constitutional reform project then it is possible that Aldegar will witness the end of the millennial conflict between church and democracy. The small Yazdean mystical sect that most of the party's leadership belongs to may not earn it popular support, but it may well secure the respect and admiration of the more reactionary parts of the clergy and secure their allegiance to Aldegarian republicanism in the process.

[Polites]

New religious policy
     November 5294

     The Royal Divan of Aldegar has proposed a new religious policy which the National Assembly dominated by the Yazdean People's Party is sure to approve. The Religious Policy Act serves as both continuity but also a significant departure from current religious policies. Although the government will maintain the current policies on clerical salaries being paid by the state and restrictions on foreign missionaries and public blasphemy, the bill also implements a number of proposals that effectively reduce the privileges enjoyed by religions. Among other things, proselytism by religious organizations will now be banned, whereas until now religions could freely evangelize granted they received a government-issued permit. The state will also have the right to intervene in the appointment of ministers of religion, who will no longer be allowed to formally endorse political candidates, parties, or policies, and non-charitable religious property will be subject to taxation. Most controversially, atheism and irreligion will effectively become illegal, as all Aldegarians will be required to adhere to at least one organized faith.

     The impetus behind this piece of legislation is to bring all religions in line and force them to endorse the Aldegarian republic, by reducing the immense power and influence of the mobeds and turning them into politically-neutral government employees. The Royal Divan thus aims to neuter the aristocratic and anti-democratic impetus of the more ultraconservative mobeds while guaranteeing government support for all organized religions in Aldegar. Critics have also noted the influence of the Gašasbīān (Illuminationist) sect to which the President and other Yazdean People's Party officials belong to behind policies like the restriction on proselytism or ban on atheism, seeing the Gašasbīān belief that one's faith is pre-determined by God before birth and that changing it is a grave sin as an influencing said policies. The government has however denied any undue influence on its public policies and insists that the current act is meant to promote the common good of Aldegar. On thing is certain, however. The fact that this act, which effectively abolishes the political power of the Yazdean Church, is being approved with only mild opposition from the clergy is a clear sign that the mobeds who once acted as kingmakers and could overthrow regimes on a whim have long since lost their historical influence. If that is indeed the case then the odds are no longer stacked against Aldegarian democracy, which may yet live to see another day.

[Polites]

Rise of vernaculars
     June 5295

     As part of the reformist government's policy shift the Royal Divan controlled by the Yazdean People's Party has introduced a linguistic proposal that aims to resolve Aldegar's centuries-long language problem. The language now known as Aldegarian is not in fact natively spoken anywhere in Aldegar, and most Aldegarians speak Rajavanshi (OOC Gujarati), while a majority of the inhabitants of Somasi speak Nelayan (OOC Javanese), a Nautic (OOC Austronesian) language closely related to the native Tukarese languages spoken to the north. Aldegarian is a Kalkali-Ezadi (Indo-Iranian) language originating in Majatra, where it is still spoken by a substantial minority in Solentia. In Aldegar it became the sole language of prestige due to the fact that its ancient predecessor, Old Aldegarian (OOC Avestan), a language closely related to Ekalkit (OOC Sanskrit), and its medieval variety Classical Aldegarian serve as the liturgical languages of Yazdism and, to a lesser extent, Daenism.

     Because it lacks native speakers in Aldegar and because it use was originally restricted to religious and cultural aspects Aldegarians have often struggled to use Aldegarian in the formal and informal contexts of modern life, while at home they speak either Rajavanshi or Nelayan. Because of this diglossia and the difficulty of adapting Aldegarian to modern contexts the government attempted in 4906 to standardize a vernacular variety of Aldegarian for official use. So-called Vernacular or Modern Aldegarian is an Aldegarian dialect based on the informal use of the language and incorporates much Rajavanshi, Nelayan, and Panmuan vocabulary. In spite of the establishment of the Academy of Aldegarian Language government efforts to promote Vernacular Aldegarian have largely failed. Lacking the prestige of Classical Aldegarian or the daily use of Rajavanshi and Nelayan, Vernacular Aldegarian has failed to take hold as the lingua franca of Aldegar.

     For this reason the Royal Divan has recently issued a non-binding resolution urging the government to standardize the two main vernacular languages and explore the possibility of granting them official or co-official status. Apart from practical consideration this proposed policy also has a religious dimension. There are some among the more devout that feel that the use of the sacred language of Yazdism for prosaic purposes profanes the prophetic parlance. This religious consideration has been cited by the Royal Divan in its recommendation to the government, and it is likely that it will ultimately heed this proposal and attempt to elevate the two vernacular languages.

[Polites]

Rajavanshi translation of Yazdean scriptures
     November 5296

     The sacred text of Yazdism, Aldegar's largest religion, is the "Book of Truth", commonly known as Daftar-e Asha in Modern Aldegarian. The book is a collection of different holy writings penned down over centuries and all of them written in the ancient predecessor of the Aldegarian language, Old Aldegarian. This language is so far removed from modern languages that even speakers of Modern Aldegarian cannot understand the Book of Truth. Over the millennia various commentaries and other religious texts have been written, and together with the Book of Truth these writings collectively constitute the scriptures of Yazdism. As these later texts were written in the Middle Ages their language is Middle Aldegarian and even early Modern Aldegarian. In spite of this they still remain inaccessible to speakers of Modern Aldegarian.

     As part of the government's efforts to promote the use of vernaculars, spurred by the resolution introduced by the Royal Divan to standardize the two main vernacular languages spoken in Aldegar, the Ministry of Education has sponsored the publication of the first full translation of the Book of Truth into Rajavanshi (OOC Gujarati). Rajavanshi is the most widely spoken language in Aldegar and the native language of the vast majority of Yazdeans, and in spite of this it has not seen any significant use in Yazdean writing. The Rajavanshi used to translate the Book of Truth uses a significant amount of Aldegarian vocabulary, making it quite distinct from the Rajavanshi used in day-to-day life, but in spite of this the most sacred text of Yazdism is now directly accessible to the average Aldegarian and may also constitute a first step towards the official standardization of the language.

     The publication of a Rajavanshi translation of the Book of Truth does not however meant that Old Aldegarian will lose its status as the language of Yazdean liturgy. All Yazdean rituals involve chanting and reciting specific portions of the Book, and mobeds are required to perform the Psalms in the Book of Truth on a daily basis in the original language. As Old Aldegarian is the language of the Prophet Shapur and thus believed to be of divine origin, this is unlikely to ever change. What will change however is that Yazdean laity now have direct access to their scriptures and thus a better understanding of their faith, which may lead to a deepening of Yazdean devotion in Aldegar.

[TRA]

Beiteynu
An uptick in Seleyan trade, despite the disrupted Rildanorian relations